There will always be rainbow smart TVs in the future after the storm

In recent days, many software companies have invaded the hardware market. From Google to Dell, from Ali, 360 to millet and LeTV that have already appeared... A new blue ocean is emerging. If the computer had already been on the west hill and the smart phone and tablet had just passed the noon, then the competition beside the television was the 8 or 9 o'clock sun, full of vigor and imagination.

The most notable nature is Google's Chromecast. When it first appeared, it surprised the scientific and technological community. First of all, the product is small and cute, similar to the U disk; secondly, the price is only 35 dollars; in addition, the operation is simple and can be directly inserted into the HDMI interface of the TV, and the streaming video projected from the mobile phone and the tablet can be played.

However, after more details were dug out, praise began to ebb. Obviously, Google has made some shortcomings in the demonstration. For example, Chromecast still needs to connect to the power supply, and the video content is very limited. In addition to Netflix, Pandora, and Google Play store content, it is not possible to push locally stored content on computers, mobile phones, or tablets.

As an Internet and software company, Google has already made many attempts in hardware, such as mobile phones, tablets, laptops, and Google glasses that have been high hopes. The television stick is obviously a new toy. It is possible to play a heavy role or disappear in the future.

Almost at the same time, the domestic Alibaba Group has come to join in. Ali launched a smart TV operating system and launched the "Hua number Rainbow" set-top box with Hua Digital Media. Ali TV system is said to have built-in Alipay, which means that TV may also become a convenient shopping terminal.


TV sticks, set-top boxes, smart boxes, no matter what name you use to describe, more and more industry giants began to use TV ideas. Computers and mobile phones were once controlled by the vertical mode, but in the end they were completely washed away by the open wave of the Internet; this time it was television. And time is likely to be shorter than the previous two.

In fact, before Google’s TV stick, a large number of similar products have already emerged in China. To a certain extent, China's TV box is more valuable than the United States. Search on Taobao, you will find a lot of products such as "Internet TV set-top boxes" and so on. They have similar features to Chromecast: they are cheap, videos are rich, and operations are simpler and more foolish.

In principle, we can use a computer to analogize a TV stick: a TV is equivalent to a monitor, and if it is connected to a host computer, it can not open up Internet video. And now the mainframe is no longer the cumbersome black box of an old computer, but a TV stick sized to a U disk or a palm-sized box. Using WIFI to connect to the Internet and using cell phones or remote controls to control the TV sticks, the TVs were also disconnected from the radio and television network and headed into the Internet. The problem now is that the cost performance of the box still needs to be improved and the operating experience still needs to be polished.

When the smoke of smart phones and tablets gradually disappeared, more and more Chinese manufacturers began to participate in the spoils of television. This time, the free and open green robot, Android, gradually became the standard operating system for TV boxes. Today, China's Internet has appeared in multiple TV APP markets. As if to reappear yesterday, the popularization process of Android smart phones - Brush Forum, application market, massive applications ... and again in the field of television boxes.

Unlike a cell phone, a TV is a screen that looks on the couch. Its core application is still video. Since there are so many videos on the Internet, moving them to television is the biggest task at the moment. Aggregating, recommending, and easily finding all kinds of videos is the core requirement of TV APP. In addition to Youku, iQIYI and other video giants' own smart TV apps, there are also multiple convergence platforms such as VST All-Inclusive, Taijie Video, etc., all of which are eager to attract users. Due to the huge differences between the screens (interfaces) of the tablet, mobile phone and television, the resolution, resolution, and speed of the network must all be converted. The box remote control and the mobile touch screen also have completely different control experience. Therefore, an App with a more friendly interface and more convenient operation will win the favor and recognition of more users.

Recalling the popularity of Android phones, in addition to free + advertising, there is still no multi-win-win business model. Compared with Apple, mobile phone manufacturers, operators, software and content providers still have not built a win-win model. The new television box should also consider the division of labor and cooperation in all aspects as soon as possible.

In principle, video + advertising can already build a strong foundation for cooperation. However, the relationship between the video website and the aggregation platform is still unclear, and the cooperation standard is a blank.

Wearebug, a developer of rabbit videos, wrote an article at 36kr that puts the importance of the standard. In his view, the VAST (Video Ad Serving Template) protocol developed by the Internet Advertising Agency IAB is available for reference. As long as the video site publishes ads in the VAST format and the aggregation platform implements the parsing execution of the VAST advertising protocol, cooperation will be a healthy development. VAST was originally created by Doubleclick, which was acquired by Google. VAST became YouTube’s advertising standard and a de facto industry standard.

In short, under this standard operation, the player (aggregation platform) can build a mutually-accepted communication mechanism with the video source. The player plays the designated advertisement at the designated time and sends the user's operation data back to the video source or a third-party statistical agency. As a result, video sites receive advertising revenue and statistics, and the aggregation platform (player) can also provide users with a better experience.

In the long run, the Internet TV market, in addition to Internet players, has traditional TV manufacturers. When Alibaba claimed that its smart TV had an ecosystem, Skyworth, Changhong, Konka, Haier and other color power plants were invited to join the system. Skyworth Brand Director Li Congxiang clarified to the media that Skyworth did not join the Ali Smart TV Ecological Alliance. .

Therefore, cooperation standards and the concept of win-win will affect the future of China's smart TV. If the multiplayer game of the TV box also enters into a separate, open but fragmented situation, it is in fact repeating the mistakes of many previous industries.